Follow Me (into the jungle)
by xdreamernumbuhfour
Summary: Greek mythology, anime characters and no taxes. All of these things seemed like a dream to Josie Harper until a botched rescue attempt lands her smack in the middle of East Blue in the world of One Piece. And of course, the Fates have a sense of humor and Josie becomes a glorified babysitter to the most reckless group of teens in the East Blue!
1. Prologue

Prologue: The Unexpected Journey! Jojo Starts an Adventure!

_May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks. _\- J.R.R. Tolkien, _**The Hobbit**_

* * *

**Sing, Goddess****, of the rage**

**Cold and unyielding, a woman scorned**

**Betrayed by man, by blood and promises,**

**A dark figure saved by the love of light and air.**

** An adventure into dreams and Neptune's**

** Vast reach, turning her back on her home**

** A forgotten future and home behind**

**Begins with a grudge carried by the ****sons**

** Two vast planets, sharing a gravity.**

** What is shared in the father**

** Is carried by the son**

** Borne by the daughter**

** Suffered by a world.**

**The song of Hades and the fathers,**

** Uranus and Cronus**

* * *

**Police Alert: missing woman, Eldertree**

ELDERTREE police are appealing for public assistance in locating 21-year-old Josie Harper who was last seen yesterday, March 9th

Josie has been missing since 11am when she was last seen leaving the restaurant where she had lunch with her grandmother.

Her family holds concern for Josie's safety and well-being as she failed to return to work or home, which her family claims to be unusual behavior for the young woman. Witness reports claim that after exiting the restaurant, Josie headed down the busy street along the Carson River, home to several local businesses.

Josie is described as being Caucasian, approximately 160cms tall with a solid build and short black hair and brown eyes. She has a small tattoo on her wrist.

She was last seen wearing a gray 'University of Alabama' t-shirt, black jeans, and gray tennis shoes.

10 March 20XX 10:55am

* * *

That's pretty much the last my hometown heard of me. As far as I know, at least. It must have been pretty exciting for them. Eldertree was never much for anything apart from missing dogs, so a missing person? I would have been the talk of the town for _weeks._

I'm sure you've guessed by now, but yeah, that's me. Josie Harper, 21 year old college student and office clerk.

At least, I was two months ago. That's right. _Two months_.

Not sure if anyone in town is talking about me anymore except for my mom, which, yikes, is something I hate to think about.

Why not my grandmother?

Because everything that's happened since that day is her doing.

I won't say that it's her fault, because I really can't blame her. All she was doing was protecting me, as… unexpected as the results where. She's getting on in age and though she meant well, she didn't exactly send me where I was supposed to go.

This is where things start getting weird and where my life was turned upside down, because the things I thought I knew? They were just the surface of my family's past.

My grandmother is Greek, and while I knew her my whole life as the woman Tara Megalos.

In mythology, she's more commonly known as the Titan Gaia, Mother Earth, so to say. And the one who ruined my life was her husband and my grandfather, Uranus. Father Sky and the scariest bastard I hope to never meet.

It's funny how someone you've never met can change your whole life. Two months ago, I was having lunch with what I thought was just an average woman I'd known my entire life.

Now I'm here, in a boat, in an ocean that shouldn't exist, staring at a kid with literally the _biggest_ grin I've ever seen and a ratty straw hat that I could never mistake after reading a certain story centering around the teenager in front of me.

Because of my fucked up and until recently unknown family history, I've ended up in a rowboat in the ocean known as East Blue, located in a manga series called **One Piece**, and having a staring contest with the unbelievable main character known to all fans as the future, King of the Pirates, **Monkey. D. **_**Luffy**_**.**

What the hell?

If you wanna find out how all this came to be, and everything that happened after, well…

Just stay tuned.


	2. A Surprise! The Cyclops Cowboy!

"I asked Lacey to marry me."

The rice slid off of Jo's fork as the utensil drooped in her grasp, the young woman gaping at the man in front of her.

To her left, their grandmother was likewise in shock, though more gracefully than her granddaughter.

Terra's hands rose to cover her mouth, the corners of her eyes crinkling merrily as she fought to contain her joy.

"Oh, my darling!" she exclaimed, reaching out to hold her grandson's hands.

"Sterling!" Jo yelped, causing the young man to jump and she lunged at him. "What did she say?"

Sterling laughed at her unbridled excitement as he was shaken between the pair of women he was closest to in his family. Apart from his mother, that is.

These two were just as excited as his mother was when he told her.

Terra was his grandmother and Josie was his first cousin through her, though the younger woman might as well have been his sister for as close as they were. Sterling was the oldest grandchild and his impending marriage opened a new door for Terra. She was likely to get her first great-grandchild from him first. Eventually, more pressure would be put on Jo to do the same and get married and start a family of her own, but honestly, Sterling couldn't see that happening.

Jo was likely to sprint away from the prospect of marriage like a gazelle from a lioness.

She already cringed at the idea of dating.

Relationships involving romance were a big 'no-no' for the younger woman.

If she had her way about it (and she most certainly did), then she'd happily finish getting her degree and then a house where she could live alone and raise cats for the rest of her life.

And that wasn't even Sterling speculating about her future – those were Josie's real plans. She'd told him about them herself.

Still, he thought that, while she was against herself getting married, she'd like to participate in a wedding. A wedding like his.

"She said yes, of course!" Sterling confirmed gleefully, shaking Jo right back. His joy was uncontrollable and contagious.

"Ah!" Jo squealed, unable to find words.

"And that means I'm in need of a best man." Sterling continued, turning to face Josie entirely. "Or a best woman, as I was hoping. Whaddya think, Jojo? Up for the spot?"

Josie froze, sharing an uncertain look with Terra before looking back at him with owl-wide eyes. "Me?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yes, you!" he laughed.

"Seriously," Jo gaped, a nervously excited grin tugging at her lips. She was absolutely delighted that her cousin wanted her in the wedding at all, let alone in such a big position.

She'd always thought to have him in her own wedding, if she ever thought to go through with such a thing, but never imagined that he'd have an obligation to have her in his own wedding.

"I wouldn't have anyone else for the job." Sterling assured her, his own excited grin matching his cousin's. "You're my family and my best friend, Jojo. Who else can I trust to hold me up when I start to faint from nerves?"

Jo shoved at him playfully, her joy tinged with a bit of good natured mischief. "That's what you think. If you faint, I might just step in and steal Lacey away myself. She's pretty and blonde and stubborn as hell. Just my type."

Sterling made a face at her, mock lunging to catch her in a headlock. Jo caught his hands with her own and they wrestled for a minute, getting a bit too rough and loud for the restaurant.

Their grandmother cleared her throat disapprovingly, pointedly moving her drink away from the danger zone. When the pair continued their rough-housing and started garnering looks from other customers, Terra scowled.

"Josie, Sterling. Enough." she said firmly, catching the pair's attention with her tone.

Jo offered her grandmother a sheepish grin before pulling away from her cousin, discreetly landing a kick in on his ankle as he moved back to his seat. Terra gave her an unimpressed look when Sterling yelped, having seen through Jo's innocent ploy.

"I think it's time I cut out of here," Sterling snorted, making another face at Jo when Terra looked away. "If I get back more than five minutes late, I'll hear about it for a week from Lira about how I need to be more responsible and how she's not gonna do my job for me."

Jo rolled her eyes at the thought. "Never mind the fact that you get there before her most of the time, stay later, and come in on your days off sometimes. While she only works, what? Four days a week?"

Sterling just shrugged in a 'what can you do' sort of way, his face twisting to show that he wasn't comfortable addressing the situation. "At least I only have to work with her like, once a week. Anyway, Jo, Nana – I'll call y'all later. Let's have lunch again soon so we can talk more about wedding plans… whenever we actually get around to making some, that is."

Jo grinned at him and Terra smiled kindly, her irritation with their childishness ebbing some.

"Have a good day, darling." their grandmother bid as he collected his things and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as he left. To Jo, he offered a quick noogie before darting out of the way of a retaliating smack.

"Bye, Jojo!" he cackled.

Terra sighed long sufferingly before looking at her granddaughter. "Do you have to go now or is there still time for us to finish this lunch?"

Jo glanced at the time on her phone and shook her head. "I've got a bit longer before I need to head back. I work closer anyway. It's not even a five minute walk from here."

Terra smiled. "Good. I don't see you enough anymore, dear."

"Well, you'll see me more often if I know Lacey. She's definitely gonna want you and Aunt Bee helping with her side of the wedding stuff." Jo grinned, thinking about how much Lacey loved her fiancee's family. She had no family of her own and loved Sterling's all the more for it. They were great together. "And you'll get to see me in a suit!"

Terra didn't seem to like that part as much as being involved with helping Lacey.

"He really should have asked a man to stand up for him at the wedding." Terra sighed, sipping at her water like she was trying to wash away a bad taste.

Jo smirked, trying not to show how the comment hurt her feelings. There was no one Sterling was closer to than her. She'd been the first to hear about him buying the ring in the first place.

"I can stand up for him just fine, Nan. Remember middle school?"

Terra scoffed, a traitorous smile tugging at her lips. "When you got into fights every other week and Sterling had to drag you out of them? Oh yes, I remember. And I remember your mother calling me every time because she was convinced you were going to kill someone some day. You really are a lot like your father."

Jo froze a moment before shaking it off. She scowled, a dark look taking over her face. "I wouldn't say that at all. I'm a lot like my _mom_."

Terra gave her a look but allowed the subject to redirect. "If you were more like your mother, you would have convinced Sterling to put you in the bridal party instead."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Whoever's in the bridal party is Lacey's decision."

"She'd love to have you as a bridesmaid –"

"Lacey know there's no way she'd get me in a dress." Jo cut off her grandmother with a scowl. "Besides, she shouldn't have to feel obligated to ask me just because I'm Sterling's cousin. She has her own friends and I know she'll want them for that part. Like Adeline. Pretty sure she's had her picked for Maid of Honor since they met."

"It's Matron of Honor when they're already married, dear." Terra corrected, with a sigh, but allowed the subject of wedding gender roles to drop in favor of wondering about locations and color schemes.

She was fond of a sea-side wedding with a crystalline color scheme.

Jo thought that might have been a shade of blue.

Their time for lunch continued to tick away, the women leisurely finishing their food and falling into contemplative silence.

Terra was very much a people person and Jo infinitely more reserved. However, a silence between them was familiar and comfortable.

And then, something queer happened that broke that silence and, afterward, it would take a long time before Josie would be comfortable with her grandmother again.

A man in a trench coat and a cowboy hat walked up to them and, in a voice much like a child's, called Terra '_Momma_'.

There was an awkward pause from Jo, her fork once again suspended away from her mouth. More rice fell off of it.

She looked at her grandmother in bewilderment.

Terra, on the other hand, seemed less confused and more panicked. This man wasn't a stranger, but someone she knew.

"Roth." she greeted in a faux-casual tone, but the way she leaned away from him betrayed her. "I'll talk to you later, dear. I'm in the middle of something, right now."

Jo put her fork down with a frown, giving up on eating and trying to get a look at the man's face instead.

The brim of his hat hid it well, apart from his mouth. His lips had begun to tremble, like a fussy child's.

Jo felt a mixture of panic stemming from a fear of a child throwing a tantrum and a grown man throwing a tantrum, both of which were terrible things that made her feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

"Momma." he huffed, stomping a bit closer and reaching out for Terra.

Jo moved to stop him before she really realized what she was doing. She stood in an awkward half-crouch from her chair. "Hey, buddy. She said she'd talk to you later. So, _back off_."

"Josie." Terra said, moving to pull her back. "It's not a problem. Please just let it go."

Jo frowned, but backed away a bit. She barely came up to the man's collarbone and was a great deal softer, but ready to throw down if he made a wrong move towards her grandmother.

"Is he related to us?" she asked, unable to focus on another subject. "He called you mom."

As far as she knew, Terra only had two children: Jo's aunt Phoebe, Sterling's mother, and Waylon, Josie's own father.

"I'll explain later." Terra insisted, putting herself between the man – Roth – and Josie. "Jo, my dear, I think it's time to finish this lunch. I'll call you later. Roth, please, let's not do this here."

But Roth had stopped suddenly, head turned towards Jo like was was observing her. She felt rather like a bug before a cat. It was unnerving to not see his face.

"Is that the last one?" he asked, suddenly lunging forward to put his face in Jo's. "Oh, it is! Good job, Momma! Daddy's gonna be so happy!"

Terra pulled Jo away sharply, standing from her seat so abruptly that the chair fell to its side with a loud clatter. No heads turned their way.

Much like Jo had begun to, Terra drew herself up to her full height, a more impressive feat than her granddaughter, and gave Roth the look of a very Angry Mother. "Roth, you will leave at once. And you won't speak a word of this to your father! I will only tell you once, young man!"

But Roth, much like a petulant child, had no desire to listen to Terra, whether she was really her mother or not.

He lunged forward around the older woman, hands reaching for Josie's face and the girl found herself all at once unable to breathe or think more than simple thoughts as Roth's cowboy hat fell back off his head and his face was revealed to her.

There, in the center of his face where there should have been eyebrows and the bridge of his nose, was a feature that made him a totally foreign creature to her.

_He had only one great eye in the center of his face._

Her brain stuttered for a moment, thinking he was someone playing a trick on them. First, it was a mask. Then a trick of the light. She blinked. The one eye was still there. A birth defect then. She'd never heard of anything like that. [1]

Then came the wild idea.

A cyclops.

Like the _Odyssey_. Polyphemus.

Jo giggled a little hysterically at the idea, feeling detached from the situation.

Who was there? _Nobody_. [2]

"Josie!" Terra exclaimed, shoving Roth away and grasping her giggling granddaughter by the shoulders. She gave her a good shake to bring her back to her senses. "Jo, you have to run! Run away! Now!"

Jo wheezed, trying to look at her grandmother and failing to look away from the _cyclops_ before her. Her grandmother shoved her. "Go?"

"Yes, go! Hurry!"

Josie stumbled away, hesitating at the sight of Terra standing between her and the creature behind. She didn't want to go. It didn't feel right.

"Nan?" she asked helplessly.

Terra began to look annoyed. "Josie, I won't tell you again. _**GO**_."

Josie jumped and ran at once. Her grandmother's order didn't sound like it had come from the woman before her, a tall but still fragile looking thing with graying hair and deep lines around her eyes. It sounded like someone larger and more powerful speaking to her from Terra's lips. Like the voice of the universe.

Jo didn't know where to go, hurrying blindly through the crowds and the streets. She half-listened to her mind to head home and hide in her bed. The other half of her brain told her to go back to work before she was fired.

As a result of her indecisiveness, she ended up on the river walk by the Carson, nearly dangling over the railing when she reached it to take a breather. There was a small amphitheater over the hill, the tops of its cover and some columns visible to her from here.

She looked away from it, her encounter with a cyclops and the amphitheater's presence making her feel like she had walked into a Greek myth.

Perhaps she had fallen asleep.

Jo rested her head on the wet railing, panting and watching the water lap gently against the concrete wall beneath her feet. The metal was cool and damp beneath her skin and she resisted the urge to rub her hot, sweaty face all over it. It wasn't clean and she'd probably end up with a face covered in rust.

A hand landed on her shoulder.

Josie lurched up with a wordless shout, her heart about to burst up through her throat, and she flailed in the direction of the newcomer.

Terra gave her an unimpressed look.

"I tell you to run and you head straight for the dead end." Terra huffed, gesturing wildly at the railing. It was very unlike her to be so expressive.

Jo recalled seeing her like this only once. She and Sterling had been left behind at a county fair during a field trip, Sterling sick from all the fried food and Jo waiting on him to finish throwing up while the teachers missed their names on the clipboards somehow. That day, the staff involved and the principal himself had been subjected to the wrath of not only Terra, but her daughter who was very much like her and Terra's daughter-in-law who, while not quite possessing the natural poise of the Megalos women, was rather terrifying in her own right.

No one wants to face an angry mother, let alone _three_.

"It's not a dead end." Jo protested, still out of breath. She was too thick and against exercise to run like she had. "I can go that way. Or that way."

She gestured wearily to her left, then her right.

Terra was still unimpressed. "You should call your manager and call out the rest of the day. Go to your mother's and I'll be along shortly to explain."

Jo suddenly became stubborn. "You should tell me now. I won't go until I understand and you won't be in danger."

"It's not Roth that's a danger to me." Terra said grimly. "You need to leave so that I can deal with him and I don't have to worry about your grandfather finding you!"

"Grandfather?" Jo asked in bewilderment. She didn't know there was one. Well, surely she had a grandfather to have a father, but he was as unimportant to her as her father was. The men on her father's side weren't worth much, it seemed, apart from Sterling.

Terra shushed her. "Don't mention him. You don't want to bring him here."

Jo was bewildered. "He's not gonna show up just because I said so. So, this Roth guy is your son? Where's he been all this time?" She felt as if she'd been left out of some big joke her family was in.

"Names have power, dear." Terra huffed, trying to shoo Josie away from the rail and on to her mother's home. "Now, please. Go before he comes along. He's my son, he won't bother me."

"Momma." an unhappy voice called from behind them, causing Terra to jump. Jo tried to peek around her. It was Roth again.

"Here we go again." Jo muttered, backing away. She bumped into the railing. Maybe she should have run the other way after all.

"Oh, dear." Terra groaned, turning her back on Jo as she faced off Roth. "You've told him already." She frowned at the sky.

Jo looked up as well and gaped in disbelief.

A giant eye, bloodshot and bulgy was in the sky above them, seeming as part of the heavens themselves.

"The fuck!" she wheezed.

Terra tutted disapprovingly at her language. "Josie, please. I suppose I'll have to forgive you for that dear. So long as you forgive _me_ for _this_."

Jo couldn't look away from the eye in the sky. "Huh?"

That was her last coherent thought before she felt a hand against her chest, shoving her over the railing and down towards the water below. A shriek tore itself from her throat uncontrollably.

Josie _hated_ heights. She hated the idea of falling from a height even more.

It didn't take but a moment for her to hit the water, a painful slap of water like concrete against her back, not even long enough for her to take a breath in preparation.

Her ears were ringing as she sunk beneath the surface, but she heard her grandmother's voice as the world grew dark around her. She shut her eyes against the water and felt the vibrations in her grandmother's voice.

It was the voice of the universe again.

It was telling someone to fuck off.

* * *

1\. Cyclopia: A birth defect.

2\. Reference to the Odyssey. Odysseus, when asked, tells Polyphemus his name is Nobody. Later, when asking for help from his fellows, Polyphemus tells them Nobody is hurting him. They tell him to pray.

* * *

**A/N: *walks in 2 years late with coffee* Hey, guys! Not sure if any of my old readers from Gateways are here but... I actually have this one planned through to at least the timeskip! And I've gotten most of this one written already, it just needs to be edited to flow right. Gateways... is probably dead for real. I tried to go back to it. I tried to write for it and I want to continue, but I wrote it so long ago. As a teenager and with a different mindset. I don't know what I wanted to do with it. So now, I'm giving you an adult to deal with this cast of characters. At times, Jo is gonna feel like I do when I deal with my own teens at work. I feel sorry for her.**

**Also, I'm coming back to edit the shit out of this chapter later. I just need to post what I have now so I can get on with it.**


	3. A Crisis! Josie Displaced!

Now, it may be of interest to those unfamiliar with the story to know that the world was about to end.

Not soon, and possibly not even that year.

But a cyclops in a cowboy hat had helped to set it off.

In this particular world where there had been a Pirate King, where there was now the son of said king, and a young man who happened to be the brother of that son and also the future Pirate King, there was now an unfamiliar face.

To just who the face would be unfamiliar to would be everyone. Everyone except the girl's father (and one sibling, though that fact would be a surprise to both of them).

And in arriving in this world, partially due to the efforts of a cyclops in a cowboy hat, this girl has become a catalyst in causing the world to end.

But Josie Harper isn't the only woman about to experience a new adventure.

There were many and, in particular, three other women we will soon get to meet. (One of which you may already know.)

The start of the end of the world, the actual process being a long and drawn out one, has yet to come.

Today is March 10th, the day after Josie Harper encountered a cyclops and the voice of the universe.

The article about her disappearance has just been published and now, the young woman in question is waking up on a beach, far away...

* * *

10 March 1522

9:37am

Josie had two thoughts upon waking.

One was that her bedroom felt ridiculously hot, like the fan had stopped going in the middle of the night. Which was terrible enough on its own.

The other was that she was thirsty enough to drink straight from the sink. And she hated the taste of faucet water.

Josie cracked an eye open and winced, the sun beaming into her pupil like a needle.

"The fuck?" she managed to mumble past the lead-like tongue in her mouth. "Where'd my ceiling go?"

It then occurred to her that she wasn't in her apartment, this wasn't her bedroom after some natural disaster she managed to sleep through (she'd done it before), and this sand she had been sleeping on sure as hell wasn't her bed.

She had just woken up on a beach.

Josie jolted up into a sitting position and regretted it at once. For a moment, she went blind and her whole head felt too hot, like she'd just boiled it. She let out a moan and flopped back to the sand, her head spinning.

After a few minutes and some deep breathing, Josie tried again.

She was hot, sweaty beneath her clothes, and her lips and the exposed skin on her arms and face felt wind chapped and scrubbed raw.

Josie stood on shaking legs and took in the world around her.

It was like a beach from a travel brochure or a hotel website: white sand with crystal waves lapping gently against the shore. Some rough grass grew further ahead and some palm trees past that. To either side, the sand stretched out, rolling between dunes and a few sandy walls where the edge of the beach looked like it had been cut out, leaving rocks and tide pools in its stead. When she looked out over the water, she could only see horizon, only a small jut of cliffs on the far side of the island breaking the monotony of sea and sky. The harsh contrast formed a gentle curve through the water, creating the beach cove where she stood. If Josie squinted, she could see where the waves seemed to change, likely a barrier reef.

Josie Harper had no idea where she was.

"... I swear, I didn't think that river actually led all the way to the sea."

* * *

On another island found in the same sea where Josie Harper had just arrived, there was another woman facing her own dilemma.

"Dammit." Dadan scowled and threw away her magazine with disgust.

There was nothing in there that could solve her problem and, right now, she had quite a few of them pressing in on her.

And it was all the fault of the rubber brat living next door.

Well, mostly next door.

The brat insisted on keeping all his crap there and sleeping in the shoddy hut when he wasn't out firing bears and crocodiles and tigers and doing other crazy stunts guaranteed to give her gray hairs if she thought too hard about it. But he still used her bathroom and demanded that she cook all those animal carcasses he always had dragging behind him.

'Luffy's Country.'

Bah!

When that brat finally became Pirate King, Dadan hoped it was just a title.

The brat could hardly feed himself and couldn't even be trusted to bathe alone. Ruling anyone for real...

Without her 'family' or Ace to take care of him, he'd be shipwrecked within a few days of his seventeenth birthday.

Which happened to be her main problem.

The brat was going to go out pirating and Garp would kill her. Then Ace would come back for the funeral and kill her again for letting the smallest brat go out and get himself drowned. And then she'd be stuck with the blond brat for all eternity and his smart ass remarks.

And what part of that would be her fault?!

Knocking the rubber brat out and lying to him was looking more and more appealing by the minute.

He was stupid enough. She could tell him he'd knocked himself unconscious and he was still fifteen. He'd probably fall for that for a few more months at least.

It'd give her more time to find what she needed.

"Tch." she grumbled, leaning back and lighting a cigarette. "How am I supposed to find the brat something to help keep him alive when he destroys everything he touches? And barely leaving me a month to figure it out. Who does he think he is? Finding something that brat won't damage is more difficult than finding the One Piece."

Dadan huffed out a cloud of smoke.

She'd just fatten him up or something so he wouldn't starve at sea right away.

She grimaced at the idea of feeding Luffy.

She'd better call Makino.

* * *

"The fuck, the fuck, the fuck..." Josie muttered to herself uncontrollably as she scrambled across the sand and grass.

Apart from a small forest in the middle of the island, of which she could see through to the other side after getting a few meters in, there was nothing else on the island.

No people, no houses, no evil lairs hidden in the cliff face, or even a dock to give the idea that people had at least been there before.

If she didn't feel so dehydrated, Josie might have puked.

Her only saving grace was the backpack purse she'd been carrying before getting tossed in the river.

Even what she had inside wasn't much.

Little water bottle, a lighter and a pack of cigarettes, a tiny army knife she'd never used on anything but cardboard boxes, some mints, her wallet and her keys.

Her phone had been in her pocket and died a watery death long before she'd woken.

The only reason anything in her purse had survived was the fact that it was made of leather.

Josie plopped down on the sand and tried to light a cigarette with shaking hands.

It was a familiar burn and calmed a little of the tension in the back of her head.

"What the fuck?" she wondered, feeling extremely dazed and more than a little sick.

Being washed down the river seemed less plausible now.

Had she been kidnapped by the cyclops and left to die?

She took another drag of her cigarette and tried not to think about that part too much.

And wasn't that a thought? A goddamn cyclops in a cowboy hat.

She couldn't decide if he was weirder than the giant eyeball in the sky.

Or if she was just crazy.

* * *

While all this was happening, there was a significantly less stressed household on an island that was both very far away and rather close at the same time. It was a very strange place that fell outside all the natural laws of this world of sky and sea - and that was really saying something.

The girl in this particular situation is probably the only one having a good time, despite the fact that she was being chased around her family's garden by a very determined group of young women.

She let out a whoop, throwing a bright grin over her shoulder. "You gotta be faster than that, ladies! First one to catch me gets my autograph - and a kiss~"

The girls went wild for that, several squeals and screams ringing through the garden at the promise.

In the center of the garden, her father groaned at the sight and tried to focus on what his attendant was saying while also trying to handle paperwork and answer his email at the same time.

Therefore, it wouldn't be a lie to say that missing a very important email regarding our main heroine was entirely his fault. After all, it is very difficult to maintain your grip on a cellphone when a teenager and her determined fanclub literally run over you. It is much easier to accidentally send an email from your mother to a spam folder when your finger slips and slides over the touchscreen, sending a very important message regarding one Josie Harper away without being read.

An accident, to be sure. But one that would determine the fate of a soul out of her place and out of her world. And the fate of the world as a whole.

* * *

Finally, we come to the last of our heroines, on a tiny island towards the end of these seas, insignificant to most and entirely important to the climax of this tale. Though, all who lived there now had yet to realize this, let alone the pair of newcomers who have just arrived…

Patton grimaced as he watched his girlfriend take off down the docks. Her hand was clamped firmly over her mouth and her gait was unsteady from their long time at sea.

The captain of the fishing boat they rode in on clapped him on the shoulder in a show of solidarity. He grinned at Patton.

"You've got a few more months of that in store. And then it'll be the baby throwing up on ya!" the old man said cheerfully.

Patton couldn't help but chuckle at that, a rich deep sound full of fondness for Bree and the unborn child.

The woman in question straightened up from where she'd been bent over in the bushes and glared at him. Her face was pale and drawn from nausea and stress. There was a bit of sick clinging to the ends of her long, dark curls and she huffed at the situation.

"I'm going to cut it all off." she hissed, wiping her hair down with her shawl. She angrily cleaned her hands off and balled the fabric up.

Patton bid the fisherman goodbye and went to join Bree, their bag of possessions slung over his shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head and tugged playfully at a curl. "Please don't. It's sexy."

"It's inconvenient." Bree scoffed and yanked her hair back into a bun. She didn't press the issue further though, and leaned into her lover's arms. "I'm so tired of being sick, Patt."

He rubbed her back. "I know, love. We'll stay here for a while and give it some time to pass before we have to move on." Patton looked optimistic, but Bree didn't share the sentiment.

"Says the man who can keep his meals down." she mumbled irritably. He couldn't really understand her problems. "This kid is as picky as Ken. I blame him."

Patton snorted at the reminder of their other lover. "Imagine us dealing with two of them. We're going to have our hands full."

Bree's expression soured. "If we ever have the chance to get back together in one place. I hate having to run all the time. I want to be settled to have this child. I don't want to have my baby at sea."

"And you won't have to." Patton said firmly. "Ken'll have this fixed in no time and be back just in time for the babe to start sleeping through the night so he doesn't have to lose sleep himself."

Bree snorted at the idea. It both saddened her to think their other lover would miss so much of their child's early days, but she knew Patton spoke the truth of it. Though she did love Kenhelm, he would have no doubt wormed his way out of doing most of the changing and feeding of the baby.

"I'm tired." she declared, marching forth into the village. "And I want to sleep in a bed that's not in danger of tipping over in the dead of night."

Patton chuckled at her and followed obediently. "As you wish."

At first glance, it seemed as if Bree's wish wouldn't come true after all. It was small, the roads packed tight with dark dirt that twisted through a maze of houses and palm trees. The houses were built on stilts, a few feet from the ground, with pillars instead of walls and roofs made of palm leaves and long grass. A few of the houses had clothes hanging between the pillars to offer privacy. Past the lines of houses were a few larger buildings with more permanent walls of thin, vertical planks and high domed roofs.

One of them had the most delicious scent wafting from it and Bree's mouth watered and the baby in her belly kicked enthusiastically, as if aware of the potentially delicious food waiting for her.

She made a beeline for the building, waddling fast enough to leave Patton behind, then nearly toppled over in shock when an absolutely tiny woman stepped out of the ferns that bordered the path.

"I'm so sorry." Bree gasped, accidentally grabbing the woman's shoulder to keep from falling over.

The woman grabbed her forearm with a surprisingly strong hand and smiled, her entire face bunching up beneath her many wrinkles.

"Perhaps the fault is mine," she croaked. "I should know better to come between a pregnant woman and a meal when hunger strikes her."

"Finally, someone who understands." Bree laughed, stepping back into Patton's arms as he caught up to her. He peered at the old woman suspiciously.

"I understand many things." the old woman's smile took a mysterious edge. "Including your plight, young Bree."

The couple stiffened in shock, Patton muscling his way forth to loom over the old woman. She looked unimpressed.

"How came you by her name?" he demanded, his large form hiding his lover entirely.

"Her arrival was foretold. As was that of her child's." the old woman poked her head around him to peer curiously at Bree. "Of course, I might have thought that the Saviour of our prophecy would be much taller…"

"What." Bree said flatly, cradling her stomach protectively.

Patton swiped at the woman to ward her off, only to find she had disappeared.

"But our Lady is as mysterious as she is lovely," the old woman continued, unconcerned with Patton's ire. She reached out to tip Bree's chin up. "She heard your heart, the love you hold in it for your lovers and your child. Lady Aphrodite would see you safely through your final months until you can deliver your child, and as her acolytes, we would offer your family sanctuary in our temple."

"What do you know of our troubles?" Bree scoffed, brushing the old woman off and trying to walk away. Her arm was once again caught by her firm grip.

"That child has brought a sentence of death upon your heads." the old woman said solemnly. "If you wish for him to survive, you would do well to heed my word. If you leave this island, you will surely perish. This is the last safe haven for you in these seas. We would guard you with our lives and hide you from those that would cause you harm."

Bree's chest felt chilled and a wave of goosebumps prickled across her skin. This old woman knew something of her history, enough to make her wary.

But her words seemed sincere and promises of protection for her child lured her curiosity out into the open.

"This Lady Aphrodite," Bree said cautiously, wrapping her arms around Patton's and soothing him as he practically vibrated with tension. "Who is she? How does she know of us?"

The old woman's mysterious smile returned, a sparkle in her eye. "It would please me to tell you of our gracious lady. Please, come share a meal with me and I shall tell you more."

The old woman turned and headed towards the building that smelled of food, sure that the couple would follow after her.

"I don't like this." Patton grumbled, but looked to Bree for instruction. He would fight off an army for her, but the choice was hers. He would not decide the course of her life for her, but he would give his all to defend it no matter what she chose.

Bree pursed her lips. "I know the saying about curiosity killing the cat…"

"'But satisfaction brought him back.'" Patton sighed, allowing her to tug him along. "Very well. What will it hurt to listen to her tale?"

"At this point, I don't care. We're starving." Bree mumbled, leading the way by her nose.

The food really did smell delicious. If it was as good as she hoped it was, they'd stay, offer of protection or not.


End file.
